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Saturday, March 23, 2019

Novel Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1) by Jenny Han


Rating (Out of 5): ~4
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance, Drama
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: 2014
Spoilers?: No.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Lara Jeans love life gets complicated in this New York Times bestselling lovely, lighthearted romance SLJ from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series. What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them...all at once Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They arent love letters that anyone else wrote for her these are ones shes written. One for every boy shes ever loved-five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jeans love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

The Cover:

I think the original covers are super cute. They show the teen aspect, and even the dreamy, light personality of Lara Jean, really well. It's not too dramatic or too focused on the romance/boys. It's cute and light, and caught my interest before I picked it up. These were even the covers I wanted, not the one from the movie--plus, I love how all three of them go together, without being too similar.
 
Review:

Now that the movie is out, I've finally decided I want to read this series. I've heard a lot of good things about it, ever since it was released, but for some reason I still didn't think I'd love it. It just sounded like a cute, probably dramatic, teen series. I was actually rather surprised by it.
We meet Lara Jean, and she's sweet, a bit innocent, a dreamer with a positive outlook on life. I really enjoyed her voice from the beginning. She's optimistic and has a good imagination, and even though she lies a bit too often, she has good intentions in the beginning.
It took a while for the letters to come out, and we actually didn't get to read all of them. It wasn't as dramatic of an event as I expected, either. Not everyone at school knows about them, only the people who got them, really. It wasn't any cause for bullying or anything like I expected. It actually ended up being kind of sweet for both parties.
Aside from the romance aspect, there was also a really good family atmosphere, and very realistic sister relationships, as well. Lara Jean and her sisters fight and push at each other, but they're also there for each other when they're needed.
Now, the romance. I will admit that I much prefer Josh. It was a little conflicting, but he's such a sweetheart, and I love his and Lara Jean's relationship, even if it was hard since he dated her sister. Instead of Josh, this focused a lot more on Peter. And Peter was okay. He grew on me a bit more by the middle of the book, and I do think he had good intentions and didn't quite know what he was doing that hurt Lara Jean so much, but I think things ended how they needed to, maybe.
I really like the concept of this series. The idea that she decided to write letters, just for herself, to the guys that she loved in a way to let go of them, was done in such a positive light. She wasn't hating on them, was honest about what she liked even while trying to make herself feel better about why it wouldn't work.
That ending felt like a conclusion to one part of the story, and I'm really curious about where it goes after this. I'm hooked, and I had a hard time stopping this book, so I'm excited to read the next one.

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